Final Records & Final Consult = Long Day

Wowzer, today has been a long, long, long day. I started with an 8AM for my final records @ Dr. Gunson's office. The staff there is so amazing and helpful. They really make me feel so comfortable for the surgery. First they took impressions for models...seriously, how many impressions can a girl take in 1 month?? The top had to be done three times due to tearing on the braces, the bottom only once. It wasn't so painful as it was annoying and hard to breathe. But I didn't gag, so I was proud of myself! After impressions it was time to take pictures. I always hate these pictures. They are like the worlds worst mug shots. You have to keep your face relaxed and....well as you can see below, by face needs some support, and I need sleep. Check out those bags under my eyes! Yikes!

The profile view have a mark from Dr. G in red pen below my nose & attached to my upper lip. This is about where my lip is going to be post-op. After today I'm really excited to get some structure in my face :) After the pictures was wax molds...then x-rays with the wax molds in place. For the x-rays they placed these teeny tiny ceramic beads on certain spots on my face to show face structure points on the x-ray. Then the facebow...I have posted on my hatred for this torture tool before, so I will not elaborate on that aspect other than to say, it was better this time that the last. I did have to have pictures taken in the facebow, which I think they do just for their own amusement (and yeah, maybe for measurements too...). After all of this Dr. G came in to do measurements. He used a mini ruler to measure basically everything....he determined where my mid-line should be, how much everything was off and how it should be moved. He look at every angle of my face possible, and took measurements repeatedly. This was the end of my morning appointment...so about 2 hours long.

Then we had a break for lunch (sandwiches at the hotel) then went back for the Noon Final Consult. The start of this appointment was a PowerPoint with Surg. Assis. Lena. This showed us what to expect at the hospital, concerns patients have, and post-op care. This was nice to have, I knew basically everything in the PowerPoint from my online research, but it was good to see it there with my parents. They told me how the nasal intubation tube (which is larger than a pen in width) works and how it will stretch out the cartilage in my nose, but not to fret because it will go back to "normal" afterward. This was cool, they are going to put a screw in between my eyes to use as a stable vantage point during surgery. They do this because it is the only stable point on your face during surgery. They will also be lubricating, the using one stitch to sew my eyes shut during surgery. This is to protect my corneas from drying out, and from any bone shards that may be flying around. Also, I was reassured they do everything in their power to make me as little nauseous as possible post-surgery. This means not only a patch behind my ear, but they will be pumping my stomach of any blood before they wake me up...good news!!

After this Dr. Gunson came in, we wanted to take more measurements. This would be the second set of the same measurements, and Dr. Arnett also came in to take measurements. This is used as a safeguard of sorts to make sure all the measurements taken are perfect for my bite and my jaw. The best part about them taking the measurements is their facial expressions. I am supposed to stand there with a relaxed face while they are squinting and flaring their nostrils. I mean these guys looked both confused and concentrated. They were having a hard time determining where or what they were going to follow for setting up my midline. They decided on the center of my upper lip which is in line with between my eyes. My nose is evidently crooked and so are my eyes (at least un-level) so they couldn't count on them as vantage points. After this process Dr. A left and Dr. G moved onto the surgical plan. They decided they are going to move my upper jaw forward 10mm and my bottom 14mm, which for their office is "average" as they deal with a lot of cases with more severe movement. However, for other surgical offices this is quite a bit movement. They will also be moving my upper, up and widening it. They will be rotating my bottom to the right I beleive, but they are also going to be changing the angle of my joints so they are more even. Right now the left is flared out and the right is not. My joints have been the biggest complication for all of this.

This picture is of the set-up layed out while Dr.G was explaining everything:


Close up of my jaw joint x-rays and my skull on profile view:

I know it's hard to see from this picture, but my joints are not the size a normal joint. They have been worn down and the tissue is pissed. Hence the surgery.

Because they are moving my upper and lower further than they said in my initial consult the cost went up. Why? They need to use more grafting material. Also on top of needing cheek augmentations there is a 50-50 chance they are going to have to restructure my chin when rotating my lower jaw, this is another extra cost we weren't planning on. Cigna better cover all of this....but we won't know for several months post-op.

Oh jeeze, what else did they tell me today....I can't even think anymore I'm so drained from the day...Oh I requested x-rays and diagrams, they said they can get them to me next week when I go in for my one week post-op visit...hmmmm

OH BIGGEST NEWS! They changed the time of my surgery! They bumped it up to the first surgery of the day! The other surgery for the day was canceled (sorry other guy!), so mine was moved from the 1:15 surgery slot to the 7:15AM surgery slot! Winner!! That means I have to be at the hospital for 6AM. I'm excited that mine is the only surgery they are doing on Wednesday. This means they are 1 track focused! So exciting!

I also got all of my prescriptions today...

Tomorrow is my hospital pre-admit where they do blood testing, and the I have a physical with a local Doctor...phew!!!

We're down to the wire now!!

Sam made me mix CDs for each day I'm out here, so it's been really nice to listen to them! Thanks Sam :) Also, I got a card in the mail here at the hotel from Sam's sister and family, so THANKS MOLLY, JOE, MAGGIE & HANK! It was really nice to get mail here :)

:) Smiling On, Staying Positive, and now getting some rest!